Inside Cincy

Pure Romance moves downtown and Cincinnati remembers WWI.

By Mike Boyer & Taylor Spaw

Adding A Little Romance DowntownBy Mike Boyer

Pure Romance’s 21-year relationship with Cincinnati hit a rough
patch last fall when Ohio development officials denied its tax incentive
request. The growing marketer of relationship products hoped to expand by moving
its corporate office from Loveland to downtown Cincinnati, bringing about 70
jobs, but state officials weren’t as keen on the idea.

The story has a happy ending, though. After the city sweetened its
tax credit, Pure Romance gave up its search for a site other than downtown and
leased nearly 30,000 square feet on the fifth floor of the 655 Plum St.
building.

It’s easy to snicker and make jokes about Pure Romance’s sex toys,
lotions and creams, but the business, started in 1993 by diminutive housewife
Patty Brisben out of her home, is today a more than $100 million company with
offices in South Africa, Australia and Puerto Rico. It’s now a business that has
empowered more than 100,000 women as independent business people through its
home sales parties.

An annual tradition at Pure Romance is its annual warehouse sale
the week leading up to Valentine’s Day that draws thousands to its distribution
center at 161 Commerce Blvd. This year, the family-owned company also is
planning a Valentine’s Day party downtown to celebrate the opening of the new
corporate headquarters.

“We want to bring a little love to Cincinnati,” says Chris
Cicchinelli, president and CEO, in addition to being Patty Brisben’s oldest son.
He talked with Cincy about the company’s move downtown and its plans.

Why did Pure Romance want to move downtown?

We’ve enjoyed being in Loveland for the last eight years and our
47,000-square-foot distribution center will remain there. But a lot of my staff
was saying: “Hey, we’d like to take a look at having more creative space.” Our
company really is a marketing company. We’re working every day helping our sales
consultants around the world sell their products better. When we saw all that’s
going on in downtown, we wanted to be a part of it. We want to be more involved
in the business community in our city.

Any bitterness over how the company was treated by the
state?

I don’t have any resentment. At the end of the day, the city of
Cincinnati came through for us. They were easy to work with and they have a good
respect and understanding for what Pure Romance is all about.

We’re staying in Cincinnati and I wouldn’t want to be any place
else. Mom and I talked about Florida, Indiana and Kentucky, but ultimately it
came down to where we felt most comfortable and we felt most comfortable
here.

What’s next for Pure Romance?

We’re looking at growing both organically and through
acquisitions. We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve been expanding overseas adding
offices in Johannesburg, South Africa; Sidney, Australia; and San Juan, Puerto
Rico over the last several years. We’re still looking at international markets,
but we want to build out those three markets over the next three years. And we
feel there’s still a ton a growth for us in the United States.

Remembering World War ICincinnati commemorates the 100th anniversary of the warBy Taylor Spaw

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the onset of World War
I and The Cincinnati Opera and Cincinnati Museum Center have joined forces with
other cultural organizations to commemorate this event. Hosting an
eight-month-long series, Cincinnati Remembers World War I, Cincinnati has come
together to remember the 65 million men and women who fought in WWI.

One of the contributors to the event, the German-American Citizens
League, will host German-Americans as Huns: The Anti-German Hysteria of World
War I, a lecture by GACL President Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzman, at the German
Heritage Museum on May 4. Dr. Tolzman will speak on the views of
German-Americans post WWI and the treatment of Cincinnati Germans in the years
after the war. “These are very important events that need to be recalled,” says
Tolzman. Alongside his lecture, Tolzman will present post-WWI images of Germans
portrayed in media.

University of Cincinnati’s history department focuses on another
side of of WWI. Following a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities,
Dr. Elizabeth Frierson put together a four-week summer institute starting June
23. Titled WWI and the Arts: Sound, Vision and Psyche, the study will focus on
different mediums of art during wartime. The lectures will “go beyond European,
white combatants and focus on why WWI is a world war,” says Dr. Frierson.

While the events run from November to July, the Cincinnati Opera
performs the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner, Silent Night, July 10 and 12, to close
out the series.